October 30, 2006

I loved this idea from Shelina's blog and want to play along... The things in bold are what I've done. Play along if you dare!

Have You Ever?1. Taken a quilting class2. Paper pieced3. Hand quilted4. Hand pieced5. Created your own pattern6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book7. Gone on a quilting retreat8. Gone to a quilting convention9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book10 combined your quilting with some other craft11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric13. Made something using batiks14. Dyed your own fabric15. Made a landscape hanging16 Made a New York Beauty quilt17 Made a baby quilt18 Made a wall hanging19 Made a journal quilt20 Submitted your journal quilt for viewing21 Made a fabric postcard22 Made a artistic trading card (ATC)23 Exchanged artistic trading cards24. Mailed your own postcard25. Made a lap quilt26 Made a twin size quilt27 Made a full size quilt28 Made a queen size quilt29 Made a king size quilt30 Donated a quilt to charity31 Sent a quilt out to a quilter32 Thrown away a UFO33 Given away a UFO34 Cut up a UFO and made something else with it35 Ripped fabric instead of cutting it36 Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever37 Done any Sashiko38 Quilted your own quilt39 Did free motion quilting40 Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt41 Given away your quilt to a stranger42 Swapped fabric43 swapped blocks44 participated in a round robin45 participated in an ostritch round robin46 kept a journal about your quilting47 written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt49 kept a blog about your quilting50 participated in a gift exchange51 sent a quilting random act of kindness52 joined a newsgroup about quilting53 made a quilt using a pattern from quilterscache54 joined an online block of the month55 made a block of the month quilt56 subscribed to a fabric of the month club57 bought fabric at an online store58 bought fabric from ebay59 own more than one sewing machine60 have a room dedicated solely to sewing61 hide a fabric purchase62 finished making a holiday gift before July63 spent more than $200 in one quilt shopping trip64 made a quilt using a book from the library65 worked with someone else to make a quilt66. joined a quilt guild67 become president of a quilt guild68 taught a quilting class69 helped someone else get the quilting bug70 taught a child to sew71 made a Dear Jane block72 Made a miniature quilt73 watch QNN - quilters news network73 subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country74 subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country75 buy fabric from another country76 swapped completed quilts with someone else77 asked for quilting help online78 gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help79 bought fabric at a local quilt shop80 traveled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop81 used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel

82 made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog83 make comments on someone's quilting blog84 meet a quilter in person after only having talked online85 had a quilting retreat in your home86 own quilting software87 made a quilt you designed on your quilting software88 done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.89 had any quilt related subject published anywhere90 donated a quilt to a museum91 bought a quilt from a thrift store92 made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store93 made a quilt using photos94 made a pastel quilt95 made a quilt using brights96 made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.97 made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts98 had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show100. won any ribbons with your quilts101 had more finished quilts than UFOs102 made a quilt using reproduction fabrics103 took a break from quilting that was longer than a year104 made money with your quilting105 had a job in the fabric / quilting industry

I'm making real progress on my Red Monster binding - I've finished one entire long edge of the quilt, more than 1/4 done! Woo hoo! I think I can, I think I can! My hands and fingers ache from the hand stitching, though. I will get a little break tonight as I need to take my little ghouls out trick-or-treating and probably won't get a chance to work on the binding. I'm pretty confident, though, that I will finish the binding in time to take the quilt with me to retreat on November 8. Stay tuned!

Oh and I've discovered I really DON'T need to baste down the binding, that it stitches down just perfectly without that extra added step. What a time-saver! Who knew???

October 29, 2006

NO, NO, NO, it's way too early to be scraping ice off my windshield, but scrape I did this morning. Ugh. At least I finally found a nice warm winter coat this weekend, but I'm still not ready for this weather!

I picked up the Red Monster quilt from the longarm lady this weekend. OMG, the quilt is gorgeous! I tried taking a photo, but it really did not do the quilting justice. This close-up kind of shows what she did - an all over clamshell pattern. The quilting is dense and just lovely. I machine sewed the binding on and began the arduous task of handstitching last night. I hope I can stay motivated to finish this - I only have 2 weeks!

October 23, 2006

I got the blocks finished for my Anniversary Stars quilt. They are not sewn together in rows, mind you, but they are finished! As my daughter remarked "That's a big quilt!" but I am happy to report that all of it fits on my design wall - yay!

I also seem to have revived my quilting enthusiasm! I had 4 packages of Moda Sonnet charm squares, and was pondering what to do with them. I ended up paging through my favorite quilt books - the Around the Block series by Judy Hopkins - and found a block that will work well with the charm squares. I made 2 blocks and like the way they look so far.

I will need to order some more background fabric, as my local shop was sold out when I went to get more yardage yesterday, but this one is well on the way and will be one of the projects I take on my retreat in early November.

October 17, 2006

I got the email yesterday confirming our work and room assignments for the quilt retreat in November. It's always 'hold your breath' time because there are always more applicants than spots available, but we're in! YAY!

October 16, 2006

Which leads to quilting productivity! Yesterday I did something I'd been meaning to do for a while now. I expanded the flannel on my design wall to reach the ceiling so I would have more room to lay out blocks. All the quilts I've made in recent months have been too big for the current space I had, so I had to make each quilt in at least 2 sections - not fun. The current expanded wall will now fit the size of most of the quilts I seem to make, though it is a little hard for my 5'3" self to get the blocks way up there close to the ceiling!

It did, however, lead me to feel more inspired about my Anniversary Stars quilt. I finished the star blocks for two more rows, and also laid out 2 additional rows of stars. So now I only have one final row of stars to lay out, then to sew those 3 rows of blocks, and then I will be able to start sewing finished blocks together! Woo hoo! I think this one may be finished SOON!

October 10, 2006

My quilting malaise hasn't lifted at all, in fact, I think it has gotten worse! I did get my mess of fabrics that I am hoping to take to retreat all measured and put away, so the mess has cleared. I still can't get back in the rhythm of sewing blocks, though.

I cut out 3 fruit-shaped pincushions out of some pretty hand-dyed wool that I purchased. I am kind of stuck on how to sew them together, though, as the instructions are not at all clear. <sigh>

I did get an email that my retreat registration has been received and they are working on room and work table assignments, so I'm thinking that means I am in? I certainly hope so - that would do a lot to get me out of my funk, I'm sure!

October 2, 2006

In Saturday's mail I received a package from Z&S Fabrics. I had recently placed an order for some Moda Spencer Museum prints, but my order was sent complete, so I was quite curious what this package contained. Imagine my surprise when I opened it to find this package of 10 Michael Miller fat quarters, plus a $25 gift certificate!

I spent a couple of hours trying to ponder who might have sent me this lovely gift, or wondering if it was just a mistake and they had mailed me someone else's order... well, the fat quarters, maybe, but not a gift certificate with MY NAME on it!

When my husband finally got off the computer, I went to their website and discovered that they were sending this lovely prize to one customer every week in September just for placing an order. So I guess I won! Lucky, lucky me!

As for the big mess - my creativity and quilt progress has been stymied by this huge mess in my sewing room. I'm trying to get stuff ready to take to my retreat in November (there is a sewing room sales area where you can 'recycle' stuff you no longer want). So I've pulled fabrics and need to sort and measure. Yes, this is only PART of what I will be taking. Shameful, I know, but my tastes change or it's something I ordered off the Internet that did not meet my expectations in person. One gal's trash is another's treasure, after all! There certainly is a lot of treasure here!